Last month I headed down to sunny Florida from Massachusetts to play in my first three tournaments of the year. The first tournament was held in Vero Beach however Mother Nature had other plans. I was to leave Boston and arrive in Orlando Friday morning. My first flight got cancelled and JetBlue rescheduled me on an afternoon flight to Fort Lauderdale. That second flight ended up getting cancelled too. So they ended up putting me on another flight Saturday which connected in Raleigh and then to Fort Lauderdale. I get to Raleigh and 10 minutes after landing they said my next flight was cancelled. So after 40 minutes of waiting on hold they said no other flights I was able to be put on until 3 days later. I ended up going to the JetBlue counter and they managed to get me on an American Airlines flight but it landed in Miami, a bit far from my original destination of Orlando. So sign in for the tournament was from 3-6pm and my flight to Miami was going to cut it close. I still needed to drive 3 hours to get to Vero Beach. So what ended up happening was that flight to Miami kept getting delayed and by the time I got to Miami and retrieved my luggage it was already 5pm. So in no way was I going to make it to the tournament in time to sign in. So I had to call Dessie (the ITF supervisor) and told her I wasn't going to make it. But she did tell me that I was still able to play doubles I just couldn't play singles. At the time I didn't think it was such a bad idea because that would give me some time to practice on the clay courts. So the next few days that's what I did. I practiced and signed up for doubles. Turned out however that I didn't get in to doubles. We were the 1st alternates for the qualifying draw. It was a horrible week. So again, all I did was practice and watch some matches.
The second week the tournament was held in Port St. Lucie only about 30 minutes south of Vero. And this time around I made it to sign in this time! In the first round of qualifying I played a girl from France so figured she would know how to play on clay. As the match began I just needed to be aggressive because she moved well and kept the ball in play. But that was easier said than done. I wasn't aggressive, I was waiting for the ball to come to me which gave her time to recover in between shots. I played more of a clay court style and that was my downfall. I also got in doubles but we lost 1st round. So again not the best tournament.
In the third tournament up in Daytona I was matched up against the 6th seed in the qualifying. She was from South America so I knew she could play on clay. I figured going in to the match I really needed to make adjustments from my last tournament and play aggressive and not give her any time. I ended up playing really well I just lost a close 3 sets. I was up 4-1 in the third set and one point away from a 5-1 lead. It became 4-3 and again had another point away from 5-3 and couldn't convert. I ended up getting overruled on that game point. I could have sworn the ball was out, but because of the light rain we were playing in the ball didn't leave a good mark on the wet clay, and therefore the umpire had to give her the point. It sucked because in the previous weeks match I hit a ball on the line and the girl called it out. The umpire came out and said there were no marks that were out so he gave her the point. A bit ridiculous. Like read the damn rulebook! But I really did believe her shot was a good inch out, so I thought I had won that game, so to come back after getting overruled was a tough mental thing to overcome. Then at 4-5 I saved two match points, and thought maybe I could get the momentum back but unfortunately I lost it 5-7. It was a better match than in Port St. Lucie so I was happy things turned around. I just needed to keep the pressure on and not let off. But that was my trip. Not a good start but a tad bit better I guess. Onto the next trip in a few weeks.
